According to a commentary published this week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), despite a slight overall decrease in head and neck cancers worldwide, there has been a recent surge in one particular form of the disease—oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma—that may be due to the spread of the human papillomavirus (HPV) through oral sex. Dr. Hisham Mehanna, director of the Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at University Hospital in Coventry, as well as other cancer specialists, points to data showing that, in the U.S., there was little change in the incidence of this form of mouth cancer from 1975–1999, but between 1999 and 2006, cases of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma grew by 22%. Among men in the U.K., there was a 51% increase in this form of mouth cancer between 1989 and 2006.

Researchers suggest that this growing form of mouth cancer is likely due to sexual transmission of HPV, pointing to data from a recent analysis of more than 11,0000 people showing that individuals with six or more sexual partners had a 25% higher risk for developing the disease. Additionally, the risk for this type of mouth cancer was nearly three times higher in individuals with four or more oral sex partners. As the authors sum up: "Sexual transmission of HPV—primarily through orogenital intercourse might be the reason for the increase in incidence of HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma."

The researchers believe this is because oral sex may transmit human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus implicated in the majority of cervical cancers.

The new findings should encourage people to consistently use condoms during oral sex as this could protect against HPV, the team says. Other experts say that the results provide more reason for men to receive the new HPV vaccine.

Oral HPV infection is strongly associated with oropharyngeal cancer among subjects with or without the established risk factors of tobacco and alcohol use."

From ScienceDaily (May 10, 2007)
"Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have conclusive evidence that human papillomavirus (HPV) causes some throat cancers in both men and women. Reporting in the May 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that oral HPV infection is the strongest risk factor for the disease, regardless of tobacco and alcohol use, and having multiple oral sex partners tops the list of sex practices that boost risk for the HPV-linked cancer.

Oral sex, including both fellatio and cunnilingus, is the main mode of transit for oral HPV infection, the investigators say, although mouth-to-mouth transmission remains possible and was not ruled out by the current study...

...Gillison said a new FDA-approved vaccine, known by its tradename Gardasil, can prevent genital HPV infection in girls and young women, but has not yet been shown to prevent infection in boys and men. The vaccine's ability to prevent oral HPV infection and oral cancers, which are more common in men, also is not known. Although HPV detection is now added to the Pap smear for cervical cancer screening, there are no screening methods for oral cancers besides visual inspection during annual dental visits. But Gillison says that it's still too early to recommend including HPV detection in oral cancer screening...."

So do u have more than 5 oral sex partners in your lifetime? If u do, u are 250% more likely to develop oral cancer than those who do not!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Few days ago, while i was busy working in my office, suddenly there was a call from the ANC (antenatal section). My colleague who is in-charge of it was on leave so I have no choice but to "one leg kick" the whole place.

On the phone i heard a desperate voice of a staff nurse. "Must be mou-hou-yeh" i thought silently in my mind. And true enough, she said there is a Malay lady who is about 19 weeks pregnant complaining of lower abdominal pain and per-vaginal bleeding which happen since morning.... and there is "something jutting out from her vagina".... I was like WTF... anyway the vital signs were stable and so I have to abandon the huge load of people waiting outside and go to attend the case.

Once i reached the place, i saw some relieved faces. Then i saw a kidney dish containing a big sac and a piece of placenta. On further questioning and looking at the records, apparently she was already diagnosed to have a miscarriage the day before and that the pregnancy was non-viable already at the hospital and was asked to go to the nearest health center in case of PV bleed. The staff nurse should really have told that in advanced....haih...

Luckily the patient was in stable condition and the gestational sac and placenta everything was still intact, which means nothing was left in the uterus, which could be a messy affair. Ultrasound scan confirmed the finding.

Didnt take a pic of the sac though cos not appropriate ma...But it looks something like this..

Just imagine a big sac full of fluids and the inside contain a small fetus like the one above. Then beside it is a piece of placenta. It does smell ...musky? The quirky nurse was even asking whether to poke open the sac to see the contents inside. But i prohibited it cos whats the point of breaking it and letting out all the nasty amniotic fluid leh? Might as well leave everything in one piece and let it look beautiful at its last moment, at least.

Hmm...but the weird thing is... how come i dont feel anything at all? I dont feel anything disgusting or horrible (there were blood splattered on the bed as well). In fact there was once an accident case with a head trauma patient. I could stick my finger into a hole on the back of his head to see how deep is the puncture wound. And the head was wet with dripping blood. Disgusting right?

Have i lost my sense of humanity? Or have i become stoic from all these encounters? Hmm..

Sunday, March 14, 2010

To you a.k.a *****880, whom might be reading this post now, I just wanna say that I knew u have been tracking me online for quite some time now. Initially I chose to ignore it because no harm has been done. However, the mail u sent this morning has prove to be too much of a bitter pill to swallow. While I do not wish to view it in a negative light, I must stress that I DO NOT enjoy being sneaked up on nor am I such a celebrity to deserve this kind of treatment.

U probably have read through every single post here to dig a little tidbits about me here and there. While I appreciate your passion in reading my blog, I certainly could notendorse your doings. U have breached my comfort zone by infringing into my personal life and as such tantamount to violating my privacy. I just feel uncomfortable with this.

Hence, I would greatly appreciate it if u would refrain from continuing such unfruitful actions. Thank you and have a nice day:)